Dallas Mavs Injury Updates: Latest on Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving After 12-Day Trip
MADRID, Spain — Throughout the Dallas Mavericks' 12-day international preseason trip, the team began to sustain injuries to their superstar players. Kyrie Irving was sidelined for the final two games due to groin soreness, while Luka Doncic played only five minutes in the loss against Real Madrid because of a calf strain.
Irving is continuing to work through the treatment process after experiencing groin soreness. The team hopes he returns to action soon, but they are currently cautious with his workload to maximize his availability for the regular season. Irving has dealt with this since the team was in Abu Dhabi.
"For Kai, it's been the soreness of the groin and the body," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said of Irving. "So just playing it safe, and he's doing everything treatment-wise and work to get back. Hopefully, he's back soon."
Dallas Mavericks' Luka Doncic shooting a pull-up 3 against Real Madrid
Pedro Castillo-Real Madrid
Doncic sustained his calf strain during Monday's practice, and the Mavs wanted to prevent him from worsening it by limiting him to playing five minutes against Real Madrid. Doncic wanted to play more, but the team remains focused on preparation for an 82-game season.
"For Luka, he got hurt in practice yesterday," Kidd said of Doncic. "Just caution to ensure we didn't put him in a situation to get hurt again. He played the five minutes, and he looked good. He really wanted to continue to keep playing, but it's a long season. He did everything to get out there and play. He did a great job. He'll continue to do his treatment, and we'll see how he feels as the week goes on."
Doncic stated his injury was "nothing serious," but the Mavs wanted to be cautious. He pleaded to the front office to be able to play more, but the team felt it was best not to push through an injury before the regular season.
"It was my calf yesterday in practice, nothing serious," Doncic said. "They just don't want to make it worse, you know? I tried to go and talk to the front office people, but you know me, I wish I played 40 minutes but couldn't."
The Mavs are expected to resume practicing in Texas on Saturday but have until Oct. 20 until their next preseason match, an Oct. 20 game against the Detroit Pistons. There are five additional days from that matchup until the regular season opener, featuring the San Antonio Spurs at Frost Bank Center.
